VZCZCXRO6228
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAM #2958 3020551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 280551Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3739
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0685

UNCLAS AMMAN 002958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Department for NEA/ELA and PRM/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL: N/A 
TAGS: PREF EAID JO
SUBJECT: Jordan: Iraq Embassy Reports Repatriation 
 
Ref: Amman 2564 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On October 25, more than 100  Iraqis returned 
from Jordan via an Iraqi-chartered aircraft.  The October 25 flight 
 
appears to be the first planeload of Iraqis to return from Jordan 
following similar operations from Egypt, and Syria earlier this 
year.  Neither the GOJ nor UNHCR was involved in this operation. 
Observers expressed concerns that poverty might have compelled the 
returnees to go home.  End summary. 
 
Government of Jordan and UNHCR Weary of Unilateral Repatriation 
----------------------- -------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On October 26, the Iraqi Ambassador  to Jordan announced 
the departure of 107 Iraqis from Jordan.  Iraqi Embassy First 
secretary Mustafa Ibrahim, said that the Iraqi Embassy in Amman 
chartered a plane that took Iraqi passengers back to Iraq on 
Saturday October 25 from Marka Airport.  The Government of Jordan 
and UNHCR did not take part in the planning or execution of the 
operations, he said.  (Note:  This follows a recent conversation 
with the Secretary General from JordanQs Minister of Planning and 
International Cooperation, Nasser Schraideh, who expressed 
frustration over Iraqi Government repatriation  of its citizens 
without coordination with the Ministry or UNHCR.  Schraideh added 
that his Minster knows that the number of Iraqis entering Jordan 
each year outpaces the small repatriation operations, but he would 
not share  the number of new entries with the Embassy.  End note.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  A contact at JordanQs Ministry of the Interior said he 
had been aware of the returns but that Jordan did not approve them. 
 
The contact, Director of the MinisterQs Office Nasser Ramadin,  said 
 
that only the most vulnerable Iraqis were retuning home in the 
Iraqi-sponsored repatriations, enticed by a USD 500 incentive the 
GOI paid to each returnee.  UNHCR-Jordan Deputy Representative 
Arafat Jamal confirmed the Ministry for The Displaced and Migration 
 
within Iraq plans and carries out repatriations unilaterally.  As 
Iraqis are not "refugees" in Jordan, the GOJ takes no special 
measures to monitor their departure, he said. 
 
Returns--Voluntary and with Dignity? 
--------------- -------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  In the last two months, the Iraqi Embassy in Jordan has 
assisted 252 Iraqis to repatriate.  UNHCR reports assisting 170 
Iraqi repatriations from Jordan in the same period. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  NGOs operating in Jordan have reported an increase in 
these and other spontaneous returns in the past quarter.  According 
 
to NGO partners, anecdotal reporting indicates Iraqi families are 
crossing back into Iraqi without assistance. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  UNHCR staff and the GOJ expressed the concern that Iraqis 
 
were returning home, not out of conviction that this was best for 
them, but because life in Jordan, without access to jobs, was too 
expensive.  Attracted by promises of return incentives, the Iraqis 
prefer an uncertain life in Iraq to penury in Jordan.  UNHCR- 
Jordan's position is that return to escape poverty is not voluntary 
 
return in the sense of the UNHCR mandate. 
 
 
Visit AmmanQs Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
 
BEECROFT